Introducing the delicious taste and culture of craft beer in the heart of Nagoya! Y.MARKET BREWING

"Y.MARKET BREWING (hereinafter referred to as "Y Market")" is located near the International Center, a few minutes' walk from Nagoya Station. As the only craft beer brewery in Nagoya, it is widely known among craft beer lovers.

Yasuhiro Yamamoto, CEO of Y market., talks about the thoughts and commitments put into the beer of Y market, which started brewing beer at Yanagibashi Central Wholesale Market in 2014 and now has a factory and tap room in Nishi Ward, Nagoya City. 

About Y.MARKET BREWING

Y Market is a craft beer brewery located in the Yanagibashi Central Wholesale Market in Meieki, Nakamura Ward, Nagoya City. IPA, Pale Ale, Pilsner, Weizen, Stout, etc...they brew a variety of styles of beer depending on the season and ingredients. They started brewing in 2014 and have made over 300 types of beer!

Fermentation tanks in the brewery. One tank capacity is 1,000L.

On the 2nd and 3rd floors of the same building as the brewery is a restaurant where you can taste craft beer on tap, as well as restaurants in Nagoya City and Gifu City. Currently, the brewery has a factory in Nishi-ku, Nagoya City as well as Nagoya Station, and ships to restaurants, distributors, and individual customers throughout Japan.

In the tap room* attached to the factory, you can talk directly with the brewers (beer makers), so you can ask them about craft beer and hear about the characteristics of the taste of beer.

*The taproom is only open on Saturdays and Sundays (it may be closed depending on the production schedule).

The beginning of Y.MARKET BREWING

-Please tell us how you started making craft beer in Nagoya.

Yamamoto: "I started brewing craft beer because I was struck by the delicious taste of craft beer. But I didn't start brewing right away; it took me years to find an environment where I could brew."

Encountering with craft beer to launching a restaurant

-What was the process leading up to the start-up of the brewery?

Yamamoto: “I also own a liquor store called ‘Sake no Okadaya’, so at first I was in a position to handle craft beer as a product. I was shocked by how delicious it was when I first tried it more than 10 years ago, and I wanted more people to know how delicious it was, so I started selling craft beer at the stores.

However, although the restaurants we had dealt with initially handled it, craft beer was expensive relative to its volume and had a short expiration date, so it gradually stopped selling. So when I started online store, customers all over the country began to purchase. However, most of them were in the Kanto region and did not sell at all in Nagoya.

We are doing business in Nagoya, so we wanted people in Nagoya to drink it. So, I thought about opening a shop that offers craft beer. There were no craft beer shops in Nagoya at all, and there were only a few in Tokyo. That's how "CRAFTBEER KEG NAGOYA" in Higashisakura, Higashi Ward, was born. ”

Opportunities and encounters to establish a brewery have arrived

-Have there been any changes since you started serving craft beer at your restaurant?

Yamamoto: "After a while since we started the restaurant, craft beer began to attract attention in the times and was featured in the media. With that, the number of customers at the restaurant increased, and we started to develop other restaurants that served different craft beers. The amount of craft beer we handle has increased considerably, and we have gradually made connections with craft beer breweries in Japan. As I visited various breweries, toured their factories, and listened to the brewers, I gradually developed a desire to make my own beer myself. I also learned that craft beer can be made with surprisingly small facilities.

-So you shifted from the selling side to the manufacturing side.

Yamamoto: "However, although I wanted to brew, I didn't have the space, equipment, or people to do it. At that time, the owner of the sushi restaurant here (the brewery in Nagoya) was retiring, and he told me that I could use this property. When I received the offer, I was thinking about turning it into a brewery as one of the possibilities, but at the same time, I was looking for equipment and brewers here and there.
Then I was told that a ski resort in Tottori was willing to sell used equipment, and a brewer who was at a brewery in Nagano Prefecture was interested in my story. The property, equipment, and people were decided at the right time, and we decided to launch "Y.MARKET BREWING" at this location in the Yanagibashi Central Wholesale Market.

Y Market started brewing in January 2014, but it actually started around 2012, and after about two years of preparation, we have finally arrived at this point. ”

Masato Kaji, head brewer, removing yeast at the brewery

-Is the name Y.MARKET BREWING derived from the Yanagibashi Central Wholesale Market?

Yamamoto: "Yes. I am the third generation owner of the Okadaya store. This store has been in the Yanagibashi market for a long time, and it is also the place where I grew up, so I have a special feeling for it. So I would like to spread the deliciousness and charm of craft beer from this place and region, and let people in Nagoya know more about it.”

Y.MARKET BREWING's Commitment to Beer

Tap of Y.MARKET BREWING KITCHEN

-Please tell us about the concept of craft beer made by Y Market.

Yamamoto: "In making Y MARKET beer, the head brewer and I agreed that we wanted to bring the excitement of the first time we drank a beer to our customers. That's what we share. I hope you will be as impressed by the taste as I was when I first got hooked on craft beer.

First, you will be surprised by the taste of beer, then you will be surprised by the variety of craft beers, and the fun and depth of the craft beer world will continue to expand as you learn more and more about it. I would like to continue to promote the world of craft beer.

So we have a wide range of beer styles. For example, IPA is popular and sells well, but we also make pilsners and classic, unobtrusive styles of beer. I try to dig deeper into a wide range of styles.

Moon Night Yellow Sky (Style: American Fruit Black IPA)

We are also conscious of brewing beers with high drinkability. Drinkability is the quality of beer that you can continue to drink over and over without getting tired of it. For example, a beer with a high alcohol content may have a strong sweetness, and the first few sips may be delicious, but you may slow down as you drink it. That's why most of the beers at Y Market have a good sharpness to them.

-There are many unique beer names. For example, there are beers named after places in Nagoya, such as “Ncha!”, “Senbei-san”, “Kanzouyaburi no Aka”, and “Endoji Champs-Elysées”.

Yamamoto: “The name of each beer is decided by the person who makes it. Sometimes I express in words how I felt when I brewed it, and sometimes it comes from the ingredients. Now we have five brewers, and each one of us thinks about everything from the beer recipe to the name and the introduction to the site.

'Ncha!' beer uses Arare brown rice, so Arare-chan, who says 'Ncha!' is what the name was derived from. 'Senbei-san' was decided upon by adding black pepper to the beer from that series to make it resemble a rice cracker, and the name was chosen to connect with the character. There are things named after places in Nagoya, such as Endoji, Kanayama, and Spiral (Tower). ”

Y market Brewer Team

– Each beer is filled with your personality and thoughts.

Yamamoto: "That's right. That is why I want the brewers to see the expressions on the customers' faces and hear their actual voices when they drink. Conversely, we want the customers to know the brewers' thoughts. We have a taproom at the Nishi-ku factory to serve as such a place."